Paid Nutrition Assistant Role and Responsibilities

Nutrition assistant must be supervised by a licensed nurse. NA performs only the tasks assigned by the licensed nurse. The nurse will provide specific instructions about how to assist the resident to eat safely and how to encourage the resident to eat.

Paid Nutrition Assistant Role

-Nutrition assistant receives from the supervising nurse an assignment of residents to assist with eating. The assignment may change from day to day and meal to meal.
-Nutrition assistant reports to the licensed nurse whenever there is concern about the resident he/she is assisting with eating or he/she notices a problem with another resident.
-Nutrition assistant is responsible for reporting to licensed nurse whenever observable changes occur in the resident.
-Nutrition assistant provides only the direct care of assisting the resident to eat and does not provide any other type of direct care to a resident.
-Nutrition assistant may push a wheelchair but cannot perform tasks that are considered direct care such as dressing, grooming, bathing, transferring, positioning or assisting a resident to walk.
-Nutrition assistant may perform tasks related to housekeeping and dietary services, if properly trained.
-Nutrition assistant explains refusal respectfully to resident or family members when requested to provide assistance outside of role